Mindblown by Hyatt's policy (No retroactive on challenge dates)
 

So I recently just found out Hyatt could do the status match and gives you 60 days of a "trial period".

Little did I know, the 7 nights I was staying at one location was actually really critical to completing the 12 night challenge. Not to mention have a suite upgrade of 7 nights would have been nice :(

I contacted Gold Passport and they said the status challenge will only start after you intitate it and cannot have it count for the nights you already stayed prior to the initiation.

So if I started the status match on 5/28 , I would only have to book 3 dummy nights locally by 7/28 to get Hyatt Diamond.

But Hyatt said no and is not willing to allow it.

Any suggestions? (Other than take my business elsewhere of course :)

Never heard of a retroactive challenge. So not surprised that Hyatt doesn't permit this.

If anything, Hyatt's policy is extremely generous as it gives you the status AND the upgrades at the start of the challenge before you complete any of the nights. Technically it is a "trial", not a "challenge."

Lesson learned: If you plan to stay at a hotel for an extended period, look up its loyalty program before you check-in.

They were really stingy about my challenge as well. Can't much blame them though

I think a lot of people are mindblown with the generosity of Hyatt's challenge/trial program (especially compared to other challenge/trial programs).

+1!

So since I barely stay at hotels annually other than a full week at HKG every summer, which program should I look into?

I received Marriott gold for being UA Plat.

Hyatt's 20% Elite rate and Price guarantee is a + because I'm able to find a better rate on an external website 80% of the time.

I wouldn't ever be able to even make it to the 25 or 50 qualifying stays a year but am a high CC spender (so I get a bit of perks)

So I just completed the challenge, did I screw up by finishing it in June instead of July?
My Diamond status extends only till 2/2015.

Doesn't anybody do research before they start these things anymore?

You can repeat it next year.

-David

Aren't these a one time offer?

If you can do it every year why would anyone ever need 50 nights?

For now Hyatt challenge is annually - obviously may change in the future.

I haven't looked in a while, but I think the Hilton credit card gives you diamond status if you spend over $40K in a year. If you want top status for the few times a year when you do travel that wouldn't be a bad choice.

If anything, it's mindblowing that you expect Hyatt to do this when you didn't look into it yourself. Hyatt already has a very generous policy and HGP are some of the best around.

Try waiting until next year if you aren't going to be staying anywhere until next summer in HKG.

Suggestion is to consider why they would even offer a challenge... I'm just guessing here, but cheap freeloaders like you probably aren't the target audience.

Mindblowing that someone would even consider complaining about such a generous offer that hardly requires a thing to qualify for.